Going into the woods, Simmons found Lincoln engaged in his old
occupation of making rails. The two sat down together on a log, and
Simmons told Lincoln what Calhoun had said. It was a surprise to
Lincoln. Calhoun was a "Jackson man;" he was for Clay. What did he
know about surveying, and why should a Democratic official offer him
a position of any kind? He immediately went to Springfield, and had
a talk with Calhoun. He would not accept the appointment, he said,
unless he had the assurance that it involved no political obligation,
and that he might continue to express his political opinions as
freely and frequently as he chose. This assurance was given. The
only difficulty then in the way was the fact that he knew absolutely
nothing of surveying. But Calhoun, of course, understood this, and
agreed that he should have time to learn.
With the promptness of action with which he always undertook anything
he had to do, he procured Flint and Gibson's treatise on surveying,
and sought Mentor Graham for help. At a sacrifice of some time, the
schoolmaster aided him to a partial mastery of the intricate subject.
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